TEGUCIGALPA, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Honduras' coffee exports fell 8.6% in January from a year earlier, the Central American country's producers' association said on Thursday, citing shipping contracts and exporters holding stocks on hopes that prices will increase.
Central America's largest exporter shipped out 476,223.86 60-kilogram bags, compared to 520,794.77 in January 2023, according to preliminary figures from the Honduran Coffee Institute .
IHCAFE director Mario Suazo told Reuters the decline could be attributed to the shipping contracts that had been agreed with buyers, and to a "very small extent" shippers who were holding back beans and waiting for better prices.
Honduras' cumulative exports from October last year through January totaled 781,640.20 60-kilo bags, the institute said, down 3.5% from the 809,964.37 bags shipped in the same period of the 2022/23 harvest.
Honduras harvests arabica coffee from October to September, as do neighboring Central American countries and Mexico.
The country expects to export some 4,983,333.33 60-kilo bags over the 2023/24 season. (Reporting by Gustavo Palencia; Editing by Sonali Paul)
